"It is all about empowering the women," said Greg Wong, a University of Hawai'i graduate now working as an attache in Baghdad for the U.S. Department of Commerce.

"The project goal is not really for the women to make money today on the sale of their baskets, although that is wonderful," Wong said in an e-mail to The Advertiser. "It is about the long-term goal of teaching them a new skill that they can use for the rest of their lives — e-commerce — in a wide variety of occupations."

It's "leapfrog learning," he said. "Teaching a new way to fish — on the Internet."

The project was set up with assistance from the Thai government and from Randy Ching, a Hawai'i-born eBay vice president.

Wong became involved in the project when, during a rest and recuperation break from his Baghdad assignment, he traveled to Thailand to help with tsunami relief.

There, he found people eager to work, but with their livelihoods destroyed.

He and leaders in the region embarked on a three-month trial enterprise dubbed the Tsunami E-Commerce Project. The planning document (subtitle: "The New Fishing Net for the People of Khao Lak, Thailand") proposes to help more than 100 shelter residents place more than 100 items for sale on eBay and to "raise global awareness of the tsunami community and opportunities to help."

"Take out middlemen — let the world contribute directly to the victims," the plan states.

Wong, who is due to move back to Honolulu in August after his current assignment, joined with volunteers from the United States, Britain and Thailand in the project, which receives financial support from the Thai Ministry of Social Development and Human Security.

The government's part has been to provide computer hardware, a high-speed Net connection, school rooms, instructors and the materials to give residents a week of training in basket- and batik-making. After training, they then can buy the materials at low costs and make their own products.

Among the artisans is Sombat Sidanoi, 50, who came to Khao Lak to care for her sister after the disaster. According to the eBay listing for her woven tote bag, her earnings in the past had been limited to housekeeping assignments in resorts, about $3 per day.

"She hopes her new vocational training will help her assist her sister and pay for education for her daughter," project manager Anne Mathuros Bhu-charoen wrote in the listing description.

Another crafter of the $20 handbags listed earlier this week is Sirinee Santaweesuk, 38-year-old mother of two children and one grandchild. She lost her husband, a fisherman, when the tsunami struck, according to the eBay listing.

"She came to the camp to learn how to make the woven baskets in order to pass the sad moments with others, and to make some money to support her family," according to the item description.

The artistic skills already are known to many, Wong said, but the higher purchase prices of the global marketplace were never within their reach. The Internet, he said, can eliminate that barrier.

Immediately upon embarking on the project, the volunteers ran into their first barrier: Charity fund-raisers are closely regulated by eBay and, having failed to get the proper clearances, some of the earliest auctions were shut down.

That hurdle has been surmounted now, Wong said, and the group is nearing an agreement an international shipper to help with the shipping costs.

But there have been moments that have made all the arrangements worthwhile, he said.

"We did manage to sell one basket before we were shut down," Wong said, "and when we announced this to the women, they stood and cheered with delight."